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Court Sentences 16 To Life Imprisonment For Adulterating Diesel

A Federal High Court in Calabar on Tuesday sentenced 16 persons to life
imprisonment for adulterating about 100 tons of petroleum product
suspected to be Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel.

The suspects were arrested on July 7, 2016 by the operatives of the
Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps along the Brass River in
Bayelsa State while heading towards the sea on a vessel, MV ALEZZA
LILAH.

In a four-count amended charge made available to the Southern City News
on Tuesday, the offence which dwelt on conspiracy and adulteration, ran
contrary to sections 1 (17) and (18) (a) and (i) of the Miscellaneous
Offences Act, Cap, M17 LFN 2004 and punishable under the sections.

The case was instituted by the Bayelsa State Command of the NSCDC on
behalf of the Federal Government against the 16 convicts in the charge
number FHC/PH/129c/2014.

But in his ruling, the presiding judge of the Federal High Court in
Calabar, Justice Inyang Ekwo, said the 16 suspects were convicted on all
the four-count charge and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Justice Ekwo said, “The 1 to 16 convicts are hereby sentenced to life
imprisonment without an option of fine. They are also sentenced to eight
and 10 years respectively for the first two counts. All the sentences
are to run concurrently, while the vessel and all there are is forfeited
to the Federal Government.”

The counsel to the defendants, Mr. Richard Oyiwona, said that he would appeal against the judgment at the appropriate time.

Oyiwona, who had earlier pleaded that the accused were first time
convicts, expressed hope that the judgment would be set aside at the
appellate court.

He said, “His Lordship has spoken, this is not the final court. I will
go on appeal and I believe that the judgment will be set aside in the
Court of Appeal.”

But the prosecution counsel, Mr. Kingsley Nwachukwu, said the law had
taken its course, adding that judgment will send signal to pipeline
vandals and those who get involved in the adulteration of petroleum
products.

“For me, a prosecution counsel is an officer of the law. This is to
ensure that the law takes its course and that is what we have
experienced today. We hope that the judgment will send signal to those
involved in pipeline vandalism, adulteration of petroleum products,
among others that they should understand that NSCDC is fully empowered
to confront the challenges,” he said.